The main character on the 80's cult classic sitcom Mama's Family. Portrayed by Vicki Lawrence as an elderly matriarch in small Midwestern Raytown, Thelma "Mama" was a sharp-tongued bitch who often "belittled anything anythbody tried to do most of all her kids". She had a fiery temper and a very dysfunctional family. She has strained relationships with her family which she has struggled all her life, starting with her late mother, during her marriage which it's suggested her late husband was an alcoholic, and continuing into the presentwith her kids and grandkids. Thelma can often be seen cleaning and cooking in the show. She has an immaculate house with flamingos and furnished with antiques that stayed in excellent condition. But she keeps some kind of Hell going all the time.

Thelma Harper can also refer to any ill-tempered bitch who puts people down unmercifully, especially a middle to old aged woman.

I can't stand her grandmother. She's such a Thelma Harper. She done called me a bum and made comments about my long hair. She even said her dust mop looked better than my head and even proceeded to come up behind me and spray bug spray in my head because she thought I had lice. Bitch don't even know me and she thinks I'm a bum. I can't stand that Thelma Harper bitch!